Concepts of Dematerialization of Securities under Swiss Law

Abstract

This paper provides a brief history and status of securities legislation in Switzerland. The focus is on the «taken into account effects», which are classified by Swiss law and doctrine as sui generis objects, since by their legal nature they do not relate to things or to claims. The author also evaluates changes in legislation related to the regulation of the use of distributed ledger technology in the area of assignment and circulation of rights. Swiss private law provides issuers with a wide range of alternative forms of issuing securities, which over time creates problems with the formulation of concepts that reflect the essence of new objects. The author draws parallels with Russian dematerialized securities and concludes that Swiss approaches to the dematerialization of securities are not a panacea and cannot provide answers to pressing questions in the domestic doctrine, including what subjective right arises for paperless securities.